Oil shale, any sedimentary rock containing various amounts of solid organic material that yields petroleum products, along with a variety of solid by-products, when subjected to pyrolysis—a treatment that consists of heating the rock to above 300 °C (about 575 °F) in the absence of oxygen. The liquid oil extracted from oil shale, once it is upgraded, creates a type of synthetic crude oil that is commonly referred to as shale oil. Oil produced from oil shales has potential commercial value in some of the same markets served by conventional crude oil, as it can be refined into products ranging from diesel fuel to gasoline (petrol) to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Some of the solid by-products of oil shale processing are unusable wastes, but others have commercial value. These include sulfur, ammonia, alumina, soda ash, and nahcolite (a mineral form of sodium bicarbonate). In addition, spent shale has been used in the production of cement, where the carbon-rich material can enhance the energy balance of the mixture. At the same time, oil shale production has a potentially significant impact on the natural environment, including carbon emission, water consumption, groundwater contamination, and disturbance of land surfaces.

Some confusion has arisen over the terms oil shale and shale oil. Until the early 21st century, those terms respectively referred solely to the organic-rich petroleum source rock described in this article and to the liquid product obtained from this rock through pyrolysis. In the early 2000s, however, the same terms were applied also to fine-grained impermeable rocks that contain crude oil and to the oil produced from those rocks through hydraulic fracturing.

Oil shale deposited in small lakes, bogs, and lagoons is found associated with coal seams. Deposits of this type occur in a sequence found in western Europe dating from the Permian Period and in deposits of northeastern China laid down in the early Cenozoic Era.

The chemical composition of the organic matter is variable. It consists mainly of complex organic molecules containing hydrogen and carbon as well as certain amounts of the heteroatomic elements oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. The heteroatomic elements have important effects on the properties of the oil extracted from shales, frequently influencing the choice of upgrading and refining processes, and shales from different regions and different geologic origins are sometimes known for the content of those crucial elements. For instance, the kukersite oil shale of Estonia is noted for being oxygen-rich. Oil shale that originated in saline lake environments, such as the GRF shales of the western United States, tends to be nitrogen-rich, whereas marine oil shales such as those found in Morocco, Egypt, Israel, and Jordan are sulfur-rich.

The various oil shale deposits that have been mined around the world since the early 20th century have ranged from shale to marlstone to carbonatemudstone. All are relatively fine-grained sedimentary rocks, as deposits of coarse sediment such as sand are not compatible with the preservation of organic material. Sandstone found in the Wyoming part of the GRF, for instance, significantly reduces the organic richness of the oil shale.

In the GRF, saline minerals such as nahcolite, trona, and dawsonite, along with a host of other unusual minerals, were most likely formed under extremely saline and stratified conditions in the water of an Eocene lake. The chemical stratification would have created an oxygen-depleted, carbon dioxide-rich environment in the salty bottom layers of the lake, which would have helped to preserve the organic matter, deposit the inorganic minerals, and break down much of the clay carried in as sediment.

Organic content

The organic matter contained in oil shale is principally kerogen, a solid product of bacterially altered plant and animal remains that is not soluble in traditional petroleum solvents. Kerogen is the source of virtually all crude oil. The richest oil shale ranges from brown to black in colour. Rich oil shale has low density and is flammable, burning with a sooty flame. In addition, oil shale is quite resistant to the oxidizing effects of air. The external structure is commonly laminar; a cross section would show alternating darker and lighter layers, or varves, attributed to annual cycles of organic matter deposition and accumulation. The lamination would have resulted from sedimentation in the quiet waters of a lake or shallow sea, in which either carbonates were precipitated from solution or clay minerals and other silicate minerals were transported as extremely fine detritus.

Some oil shale kerogens are composed almost entirely of identifiable algal remains, whereas other types are a mixture of amorphous organic matter and only some identifiable organic remnants. The main types of algae are Botryococcus, Tasmanites, and Gloeocapsomorpha. Botryococcus is a colonial alga that lives in brackish or fresh water. Permian kerogen from France appears to consist almost exclusively of Botryococcus colonies, as does the kerogen in Carboniferous and Permiantorbanites from Scotland, Australia, and South Africa and Holocene coorongites from Australia. Tasmanites is a marine alga the remains of which make up nearly all the kerogen of tasmanites in Australia (Permian) and Alaska (Jurassic-Cretaceous). The remains of Tasmanites also are present in the Lower Toarcian shales of the Paris Basin in France and the Lower Silurian shales of Algeria. Gloeocapsomorpha prisca is a marine alga that makes up the kerogen found in the kukersite oil shales of Estonia and adjacentRussia. Oil shale in Queensland, Australia, contains kerogen derived from planktonic lacustrine algae.

Commonly, only a minor part of the kerogen in oil shale is made of recognizable organic remnants. The rest is amorphous, probably because of alteration by microbes during sedimentation. Amorphous organic material (known as sapropelic matter) is found in thick accumulations in the Permian Irati shale of Brazil and in the Eocene GRF. The organic material may have been derived from planktonic organisms (e.g., algae, copepods, and ostracods) and from microorganisms that lived in the sediment (e.g., bacteria and algae).

World oil shale resources

Oil shale is found in more than 30 countries around the world, yet, on a global scale, its development has been economically attractive for only a few brief periods since the early 20th century. Only in a few locations, where specific conditions have made its exploitation feasible, has oil shale been developed for any considerable period of time. Developed oil shale formations include the kukersite deposits of northern Estonia (extending into northwest Russia), the Fushun deposits of northeast China, and the Irati Formation of southern Brazil. In addition, the large and rich Green River Formation (GRF) in the western United States has attracted commercial interest periodically, depending on the price of conventional crude oil. (See belowHistory of oil shale use.)

*Figures adapted from World Energy Council; U.S. Geological Survey; and Oil Shale Symposia, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, U.S.

The estimated shale oil resources of the top 12 countries together account for 99 percent of the world’s total reserves and production. The “in-place resources” of each country are commonly given in oil equivalents—that is, the number of barrels or metric tons of oil that are estimated to be contained in the oil shale deposits located in that country. In turn, the estimated values for contained oil are based primarily upon the amount of oil extracted from given samples of rock using the Fischer assay, which is the standard tool for estimating oil yield. In the Fischer assay, a rock sample is heated at a constant rate to a target temperature—at 12 °C per minute to 500 °C, or 22 °F per minute to 930 °F—and then held at that temperature for 40 minutes. The test mimics the pyrolytic conditions present in some surface retorts, and in fact it is the benchmark for comparing the efficiency of various retort types. The assay does not measure the yield of gas from the pyrolytic process, which can be substantial.

Estimates of in-place oil resources do not take into account how much of the oil contained in the shale deposits can actually be recovered. Actual recovery rates depend upon the technology used to extract the oil on an industrial scale as well as features of each individual oil shale deposit and the local operational environment. For this reason, figures on total resources tend to be much larger than the amount that can be recovered.

A useful example would be the GRF. The GRF is estimated to contain more than 4 trillion barrels, or more than 600 million metric tons, of oil. However, considering current extraction technology, the location of the deposits, and many other economic and regulatory cost factors, it is unlikely that rock yielding less than about 15 gallons per short ton (63 litres per metric ton) could be processed economically from the GRF. This grade cutoff of 15 gallons per short ton effectively reduces the oil resources of the GRF by almost 75 percent, to between 1 and 1.5 trillion barrels (about 140 and 200 million metric tons). If technological and market conditions forced the grade cutoff upward to 25 gallons per short ton (104 litres per metric ton), then the actual recoverable amount would be reduced by more than 90 percent, to less than 500 billion barrels (60 million metric tons).

Because data for making such practical calculations are not available for other major oil shale basins of the world, resources are indicated on the basis of estimated oil content using the Fischer assay.

Recovery of oil from oil shale

Minimum organic requirement

As is stated above (seeOrganic content), the organic matter present in oil shale is principally kerogen; no oil and little extractable bitumen is naturally present in oil shale. The kerogen found in oil shale is not distinct from the kerogen of petroleum source rocks—that is, the material from which petroleum was generated under conditions of heat and pressure over long periods of geologic time. To some extent the pyrolysis process for extracting oil from oil shale is comparable to the natural processes that generated conventional crude oil.

In order to be of commercial interest, oil shale must contain a large amount of organic matter—significantly larger than the 2 percent or more of organic carbon commonly found in the source rock from which conventional oil or gas may be generated. At the very least, the organic matter in a prospective oil shale must provide more energy than is required to process the shale. For instance, under controlled laboratory conditions, if the kerogen content of the shale is less than about 3 percent by weight, then its total calorific value will be needed simply to heat the rock to surface retorting temperatures and react the kerogen to oil and gas. Commercial conditions are far less efficient: heat is lost at various parts of the process, and other energy inputs are required for handling, upgrading, and so on. Consequently, the organic content of commercial-grade oil shales must be considerably higher than 3 percent.

In commercial practice, the actual energy recoverable from the shale—and, hence, the specific break-even point in organic content—is strongly dependent upon properties of the oil shale as well as features of the process. For example, the organic matter content of prospective western and eastern U.S. oil shale is roughly the same (7.5–15 percent). However, the organic matter in western shale is “richer” in hydrogen than eastern shale, yielding 20 to 40 gallons of oil per short ton (84 to 168 litres per metric ton) compared with only 10 to 15 gallons per short ton (42 to 63 litres per metric ton) in the “leaner” eastern shale. At the same time, western oil is relatively high in paraffinic compounds, so that, with upgrading, it becomes an excellent refinery feedstock that is well suited to large yields of diesel and jet fuel. Eastern shale oil, on the other hand, contains more aromatic compounds and, when upgraded, is better suited as a feed for catalytic crackers in the production of gasoline. Here the different end-products will determine the ultimate economic value of producing oil from either shale, so that the two different deposits may well have different cutoff grades.

Economic conditions elsewhere in the world may make it feasible to recover oil from leaner deposits than those found in the United States. In all cases, the overall energy balance is a critical determinant of whether shale oil production can proceed. Much research focuses on better defining this balance as well as looking for ways to improve it.

Pyrolysis

The technology for producing oil from oil shale is based on pyrolysis of the rock. Applied heat breaks the various chemical bonds of the kerogen macromolecules, liberating small molecules of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons as well as nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygencompounds. Pyrolysis can be done aboveground (ex situ) in retorts, which are specially designed vessels that allow rapid heating of the rock in an oxygen-free environment. Under such conditions the pyrolytic reactions occur at temperatures in the range of 480–550 °C (900–1,020 °F). Surface retort hydrocarbon products typically contain relatively high proportions of olefins and diolefins, as well as sulfur and nitrogen compounds.

Pyrolysis can also be done by heating the rock underground (in situ). Because rock is an excellent insulator, heating rock formations underground in order to maximize production is a slow process, involving months to years. Under conditions of slow heating, the pyrolytic reactions occur at lower temperatures, roughly 325–400 °C (620–750 °F), and produce a lighter oil and a higher gas-to-oil ratio.

A third approach involves the creation of large surface capsules of tailored earth materials containing mined oil shale. A pit is excavated, lined with some type of engineered material to prevent escape of the products, and then filled with oil shale. At intervals in the fill, heating and drainage pipes and sensors are laid out, and the filled capsule is capped with impermeable material and soil. Hot gases are circulated through the pipes, and the products are extracted mainly as a vapour. This hybrid approach produces oil and gas similar to the in situ processes but in a shorter time.

Many specific pyrolytic processes have been developed. Whether the technologies are applied aboveground or underground, all of them fall into a relatively small number of basic methods based on their heating approach. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

Internal-combustion approaches burn either gases or a portion of the shale to generate the heat for pyrolysis. This heat is transferred to the ore by the hot gas. Internal-combustion technologies have been designed for use in aboveground retorts as well as in situ. Three technologies that use this approach are the Kiviter process, employed in Estonia; the Fushun process of China; and the Paraho Direct process, designed in the United States.

Hot-recycled-solids methods circulate either burned shale or an inert material as the heat carrier. Spent shale, which has had oil and gas removed from it, still has energy available in the carbon-rich char that is left behind on the mineral ash. Some technology options can burn this residual carbon to provide the heat for the process, which increases the effective utilization of the resource. The various hot-recycled-solids processes are applied only aboveground; they include the Estonian Galoter and Enefit 280 processes and the Canadian Alberta Taciuk Process.

Methods that use conduction through a wall provide heat electrically or by burning a fuel outside the retort wall. They are applied both aboveground and in situ. The old Pumpherston process, used in Scotland beginning in 1862, involved external heating through the wall of the retort. This process was widely employed with various refinements introduced later in continental Europe. Modern technologies employing conduction through a wall are the Combustion Resources and Ecoshale In-Capsule processes, both designed in the United States.

Externally generated hot gas methods inject a remotely heated gas into the retort zone. This has been done both aboveground and in situ, though the most prominent technologies are the Brazilian Petrosix process and the American Paraho Indirect process, both employed in aboveground retorts.

Reactive fluids work in much the same manner as externally heated gas, but with a chemically reactive fluid such as high-pressure hydrogen. Hydrogen also partly upgrades the oil by removing sulfur and stabilizing reactive hydrocarbons. Reactive fluid technologies have been designed for aboveground and in situ use.

Surface processing

Four basic steps are involved in the aboveground processing of oil shale: mining the ore (either through underground or surface mining), crushing the ore to a size that can be handled by the retort, retorting (heating) the crushed shale to pyrolysis temperatures, and upgrading the oil obtained by pyrolysis of the organic content of the shale.

Surface retorts may be classified by whether the reacting shale moves vertically through a stationary retort or horizontally, generally through a rotating drum-type retort. In addition, retorts are classified by whether they process shale as lumps (pieces varying from about 15 to 70 mm [0.5 to 2.75 inches] in size) or as fines (particles less than 10 mm [0.4 inch] in size).

In situ processing

In situ processing differs from aboveground processing in that retorting to produce oil and gas takes place underground. No in situ processes are in use on a commercial scale, but several companies have investigated methods for heating large volumes of oil shale in place and extracting the oil and gas products using more-or-less traditional oil and gas wells. The most important aspect of in situ processes is the means of heating the rock and of containing the reaction products. Two promising systems would use electric heat to pyrolyze the rock. One would use a large array of vertical or horizontal wells with electrical heaters in them. The other would begin by drilling parallel horizontal wells, hydraulically fracturing the rock, and then injecting an electrically conductive propping medium into the fracture system. A single horizontal well drilled at a right angle to the parallel wells would connect them, and electric current would be passed through this circuit, essentially creating a large platelike heating element underground to heat the rock. Other heating methods would use downhole burners or injection of surface-heated gases such as air or carbon dioxide.

Upgrading

The product of most surface retorts is a relatively dense oil consisting of large hydrocarbon molecules. Also, shale oil is commonly high in compounds containing oxygen, sulfur, or nitrogen, impurities that can degrade refinery equipment or, if present in the end product, create noxious pollution upon combustion. For those reasons, oil derived from shales must be upgraded if its use is to be extended beyond heating oil and bunker fuel. For example, removal of particulates and diolefins from GRF shale oil reduces the fouling of equipment, and treatment of the high paraffin content through hydrotreating yields a high-quality oil that can be refined into products such as jet fuel and diesel fuel. Another upgrade likely to be required upstream of the refinery is the removal of nitrogen, which is known to foul refining catalysts. All upgrading processes require significant effort and expense, but they are well within the realm of existing technology.

Oil produced by in situ processes is generally much lighter and is likely to require less upgrading than oil produced in aboveground retorting. Nevertheless, various upgrading steps are required, including hydrotreating, in part using the higher hydrogen content of the wellhead product. In addition, gas produced from in situ retorting is likely to be “sour”—that is, containing hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, and those impurities too must be removed.